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Great weekend in the hammock...

Went fishing with a buddy and escaped the heat of the Phoenix area this weekend up on the rim. Got to test out my new tarp that I made some skins for (What an awesome idea someone had to put skins on a tarp! Amazing!). Also got to test out my makeshift underquilt (see this thread). Few issues with setup the 2nd night but was able to overcome them by being prepared with my bag of "odds and ends"...

The first night we showed up to camp and it was raining. I was excited to show my buddy how simple it was to setup the tarp with skins and how quickly it deployed without hassle. It went flawless and I had a pitched tarp in about 2min... It stopped raining about an hour later, and was nice weather the rest of the night.

First night was in the low 50's, cool from the earlier rain. The underquilt worked like a champ, no cold spots at all. My only complaint was I was too hot all night! I had a lightweight 40f bag as a topquilt and kept pushing it off as I was overheating. I guess thats a good sign that the dirty underquilt method was working well...?

Second night it was clear and in the mid 50's. Had some issues during setup as the spot we chose was tree challenged. I setup the foot end on a nice tree, but the head side was going to a somewhat wimpy tree that really didn't want to bear the load... The spot was tree challenged, most everything very close together. There was a tree to the side and behind my original choice, but it was another 8ft farther out of an already distanced hang. I broke out my bag that has odds and ends in it (loops, prusiks, straps, whatnots...) and make a 5ft extension on my tree strap, opened up the whoopies to their longest reach and made it work. Maybe a good 25-28ft.

Went to sleep with the sounds of Elk bugling in the canyon below us, 30min later it began to rain. That continued till about 5:30am... So first nite in the hammock with rain, everything held up fine, all dry! The sounds of the rain hitting the tarp were pretty intense waking me up a few times throughout the night. Again I was overly warm, and I'm thinking that the bugnet might be keeping in too much heat? Even without the topquilt almost all night I was a bit too warm.

A good rain on your first outing with this tarp, excellent! What a way to build confidence in what you've made, and not better way to enjoy it!

As for cooling things down a bit... loosening the UQ to allow a small air flow can help. Hard to understand that you were too warm at 50F and rain with a 40F bag. Guess you are as warm a sleeper as I am! What most rate to 40F I take down below 30F. My answer is to use a lighter weight bag, or poncho liner - my preferred TQ in temps above 50F.

My buddy was in one of my tents. I think he might be a convert though, he was pretty impressed with how things went up and the comfort.

I'll have to try loosening the uq next time, it was just too hot. I wasn't even using the 40f bag for most of the night, only had my feet in, the rest was pushed down below my knees and I was still too hot! The 40f bag has taken me down to freezing w/o problems before as well, I'm a pretty warm sleeper.

I think I'll make a lightweight top quilt out of a flannel sheet with some fleece sewn into a footbox, that might be just about right for me.

I like making stuff for the hammock too.. I sleep on my side mostly, and with my arm under my pillow extended up to the end of the hammock almost. I found out the first time out that my hand and arm get a little cold where there is nothing under it. So previously I had made a "arm sock" out of fleece with a ripstop shell, little loop on the end to clip to the ridgeline, works like a champ. settle in, slide my arm into the sock and it was toasty all night.

It was a great trip, 3 days of fishing and hiking around the creeks. It was his first time going north from Phoenix, he had a hard time believing that we were still in Arizona with the cool weather and all the trees.

Quick question, I was trying to figure out from your first and last pics exactly how you had pitched your tarp. I like how your put your pole in the center (on the 1st pic); I will definately try that some time soon. But on your 3rd pic it almost looks like you have set this up like a Baker's hut? Can you offer any other pics where these things are more clear?

The first pic is from the first night, and I pitched it with my trekking poles to lift the sides a bit to get a better view out and maybe a little breeze.

The last 2 pics are from the 2nd night. It is pitched like the first night but without the poles for the most part. I pulled the poles out and tightened down the tarp lines when it started to rain, I didn't want the water to pool up at all.

The 2nd pic is out of the side, the camera was on a little mini gorilla pod on the ground at the base of the hammock, so real low angle. The 3rd pic is out the front of the tarp with the pole jammed in one of the tie-outs to get a better view of the canyon and sunrise...

The trekking poles really are handy for changing the pitch to get it how you want. Earlier in the evening I had poles in the corner and center side tie-out to raise up that side and get some heat under the tarp from the fire just a few feet away. Looking back, maybe I didn't need the extra heat, but it sounded like a good idea at the time, lol!

First night we were down at the entrace to Hell's Gate, aka Bear Flats. (both really cool names!) and the second night we were above Valentine Canyon. I guess technically we were below the rim both nights

Soon there will be arms socks in sil, spinn, and cuben fibre!
Summer, 3-season, and winter arm socks!
Arm sock accessory biners!
Arm sock clips by Dutch!
A video series on the arm sock by Shug!
Threads about the right dilution of permethrin to use on the arm sock, etc...